APUSH Fast track Review

Chapter 1 - Initial Contacts: 1491-1607

Key Concepts

• the Americas were richly populated with diverse groups before the arrival of European explorers.

• The Columbian Exchange set off a series of economic, cultural, social, and political changes that would revolutionize the world.

• The rise of nation-states in Europe was a factor in stimulating explorations to the New World and dictated the goals of settlers and explorers.

• Contact between Native Americans, enslaved Africans, and European explorers led to intense competition and to the development of ideas about race and class that would permeate colonial society and beyond.

Pre-Columbian Settlements in North America

• the American Southwest

  • nomadic tribes

  • began to rely on highly organized agriculture after advent of maize cultivation

Chapter 2 - Colonization of North America: 1565-1754

Key Concepts

• Spain and Portugal initially colonized the Western Hemisphere and used a mixture of intermarriage and subjugation to dominate the Native people of Central and South America.

• The Dutch colonized the Hudson River Valley, while the French settled in parts of Canada and the Ohio River Valley, both developing significant trade alliances with the American Indians in order to establish a profitable export industry.

• The English ultimately established a strong foothold of permanent settlements on the Eastern Seaboard, where they developed hostile relationships with the Indians who occupied territory they desired. The origins of the English colonies varied, as did their social and political systems.

• The British pursuit of mercantilist policies in the Americas was fairly unsuccessful in light of strong colonial resistance.

Chapter 3 - Causes of the American Revolution: 1760-1774

Key Concepts

• Prior to 1763, the British subordinated American capital to British capital.

• The British success in the French and Indian War transformed the relationship between Britain and the American colonies.

• British policies after 1763 were designed to raise revenue to pay for the cost of the empire.

• The American colonists were divided over what course of action to take in response to British policies.

• The Americans created a government, the Continental Congress, to address the deteriorating relationship between Britain and the colonies.

Chapter 4 - The American Revolution: 1774-1783

Key Concepts

• Both the British and the Americans had military, political, and economic advantages and disadvantages in the war.

• The Battle of Saratoga was the turning point in the war, for it persuaded the French to give what proved to be significant help to the Americans in the war for independence.

• Black Americans played an important role in the war.

• The American victory did not fundamentally change the condition or status of blacks or women.

Chapter 5 - Creation of the U.S. Constitution: 1781-1791

Key Concepts

• The Articles of Confederation were unable to address the economic and political problems facing the new nation.

• The Constitution was completed only because the delegates to the Constitutional Convention were able to reach a number of major compromises.

• Opposition to ratification of the Constitution came from antifederalists, who feared a strong central government.

• Promise of a bill of rights was important to ratification of the Constitution.

Chapter 6 - The New Nation: 1789-1800

Key Concepts

• Hamilton’s economic plan promoted manufacturing and enlarged the role of government.

• The Bank of the United States and the tariff were opposed in rural areas and southern states.

• There were both differences and similarities between the Hamiltonian and Jeffersonian movements.

• The election of Jefferson is referred to as the “Revolution of 1800.”

• Relations with France and Britain were strained under Adams.

Chapter 7 - The Growth of the Nation from 1800 to the 1850s

Key Concepts

• The Marshall Court defined the roles and powers of the judicial branch.

• Territorial expansion was an objective of the U.S. government from its inception, as witnessed by the Louisiana Purchase, the removal of Native Americans and by the Mexican-American War.

• Various groups and ideologies supported territorial expansion for economic, political, and cultural reasons.

• Controversial British actions and American policies aggravated relations between the two nations, leading to the War of 1812.

• New England and the Federalists strongly opposed the war and floated the idea of secession.

• Under the Monroe Doctrine, the United States established a policy of hegemony—dominance—in the Western Hemisphere.

Chapter 8 - Jacksonian Democracy and the Age of Reform: 1820s-1850s

Key Concepts

• Social, economic, and political conditions and attitudes led to the reform spirit In the mid-nineteenth century.

• As the Federalist Party faded, an “Era of Good Feelings” set in.

• The second party system took shape as the National Republicans challenged the Democrats.

• Grassroots movements and government reforms attempted to address the social and economic problems confronting the nation.

• The intellectual roots of reform shaped perceptions of the individual’s role in society.

• This period witnessed important economic and political reforms, but women, blacks, and Native Americans remained subordinated.

Chapter 9 - The American Civil War: 1860-1865

Key Concepts

• As the nation expanded, sectional tensions and the slavery issue intensified.

• Various tensions within and between regions came together to cause the Civil War.

• A fundamental disagreement between Northerners and Southerners about the Constitution contributed to the Civil War.

• Slavery became a crisis in the context of western expansion.

• Compromise on slavery, dating from the writing of the Constitution, became harder and eventually impossible by 1860.

Chapter 10 - Reconstruction: 1863-1877

Key Concepts

• Attitudes and economic and political forces influenced the dimensions of Reconstruction.

• Lincoln’s and Johnson’s lenient Reconstruction plans clashed with the radical Republicans’ Reconstruction methods and objectives.

• The Republican Party sought to contain blacks in the South in order to establish the nucleus of their party in that section of the country.

• Southern “Redeemers” temporarily reinstated the South’s prewar political and social system, leading to the more punitive radical Republican Reconstruction.

• Congress ratified three important civil rights amendments—the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments.

• Reactionaries regained control of the South, and blacks were relegated to sharecropping and social and political subordination.

• A political deal between Southern Democrats and the Republican Party ended Reconstruction.

Chapter 11 - The Industrial Era: 1876-1900

Key Concepts

• The state and federal governments played significant roles in promoting business interests.

• This period witnessed the rise of the corporation.

• Proponents and opponents of the government in assisting laissez-faire capitalism offered numerous justifications for their positions.

• The U.S. economy expanded enormously during the late nineteenth century, easily surpassing European industrial nations.

• Representing different objectives and memberships, labor unions forms, and major strikes occurred in the period.

• The Supreme Court handed down decisions that for the most part favored business by controlling unions and undoing legislation that would interfere with capital accumulation.

Chapter 12 - Postwar Politics and the Populists: 1870s-1896

Key Concepts

• Republican presidents dominated the postwar era and tended to support big businesses..

• The Grange, Farmers’ Alliances, and Populists emerged to contest big business’ control over the marketplace.

• The Populists were a diverse coalition that sought to confront a wide variety of urban and rural problems.

• The Populists and Democratic Party fused in the late nineteenth century.

Chapter 13 - U.S. Foreign Affairs from 1860-1914

Key Concepts

• The United States created an international empire as a result of its one-sided victory in the Spanish-American War.

• Those who supported or opposed U.S. imperialism provided theories and justifications for their views.

• The United States penetrated Asia, establishing the Open Door Policy in China.

• Throughout this period, the United States intervened in Central and South American internal affairs.

Chapter 14 - The Progressive Era: 1900-1920

Key Concepts

• The progressive movement was one major phase of liberalism in the twentieth century.

• Grassroots and government reformers attempted to address the abuses and deficiencies in American life at the local, state, and federal levels.

• Important reforms were enacted by Congress to address abuses in business, the economy, and the environment.

• Women and African Americans organized to improve their condition and status, but despite major economic and political reforms, they continued to experience hard times.

Chapter 15 - World War I: 1914-1918

Key Concepts

• German violations of American neutrality, strong economic and political ties to Britain, and effective British propaganda helped shape American public opinion about the combatants.

• Despite a strong desire on the part of the American public to remain neutral, the United States entered the conflict in 1917.

• World War I affected American civil liberties as the government suppressed dissent.

• The punitive nature of the Treaty of Versailles laid the foundation for resentment in Germany.

• Woodrow Wilson’s idealism, as articulated in the Fourteen Points, including the establishment of a League of Nations, was challenged at home.

Chapter 16 - Conservatism and Cultural Diversity in the 1920s

Key Concepts

• The 1920s were dominated by conservative Republican presidents.

• Americans experienced an unprecedented burst of consumer activity as new mass-produced commodities were made available.

• Tensions prevailed between rural and urban America.

• The decade witnessed a rise in nativism and racism.

• The period was culturally vibrant as new forms of music and art became popular.

• The U.S. government persecuted radicals in the red scare.

Chapter 17 - The Great Depression and the New Deal: 1929-1941

Key Concepts

• A number of major factors caused the Great Depression, among them underconsumption and high protective tariffs.

• The extent of the economic collapse for the United States and the world was unprecedented.

• President Hoover failed to stem the decline of the economy.

• Upon becoming president, FDR insinuated a vast array of relief, recovery, and reform policies and agencies to address the collapse of the economy.

• Several New Deal programs were ruled unconstitutional by the conservative Supreme Court.

Chapter 18 - World War II: 1939-1945

Key Concepts

• The rise of fascism, militarism, and imperialism were significant developments that ultimately led to World War II when Germany, Italy, and Japan embarked on policies of territorial expansion and conquest.

• The 1930s Neutrality Acts limited but did not entirely prevent FDR from providing assistance to Great Britain.

• Deteriorating relationships between Japan and the United States ended in war.

• The United States adopted a discriminatory policy toward Japanese Americans.

• The Holocaust brought unprecedented suffering to millions of European Jews and others the Nazis found objectionable.

• The dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan ended the war, but some later questioned whether the attacks were necessary.

• The roots of the Cold War lay in the tensions that developed between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies.

Chapter 19 - Domestic Affairs from 1945 to the 1980s

Key Concepts

• In the postwar period, the U.S. economy reconverted from one geared to the production of military supplies to one that was consumer-oriented.

• The postwar years witnessed an enormous expansion of the economy, highlighted by the baby boom, suburbanization, and massive consumer spending.

• The civil rights movements helped black Americans, but they were still relegated to a second-class status economically, politically, and socially.

• The presidential administrations in the postwar decades expanded the size and scope of government.

• Some administrations addressed the demands of labor, whereas others had an adversarial relationship.

• Liberalism reshaped social, economic, gender, racial, and political relations.

• A conservative backlash evolved in response to the liberal policies of the 1960s.

• The Watergate scandal undermined the American people’s trust in their political system.

Chapter 20 - U.S. Foreign Affairs from 1945 to the 1980s

Key Concepts

• Conflicting U.S. and Soviet postwar objectives played a significant role in creating the tensions between the two superpowers that led to the Cold War.

• The United States sought to contain the spread of communism in Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa.

• The second red scare (McCarthyism) affected the United States domestically as the public was led to believe that there were communists seeking to undermine American institutions.

• The United States succeeded in containing communism in Europe.

• The United States was unable to contain the spread of communism to China but did so in South Korea.

• The Vietnam War seriously divided the American people and showed the limitations of the containment policy.

• The collapse of the Soviet Union transformed international affairs.

Chapter 21 - The Post-Cold War Era: 1980-2013

Key Concepts

• With the election of Ronald Reagan, conservatism reemerged as a rejection of the liberal social and economic policies of previous administrations. Under Reagan, military spending ballooned, while spending for domestic programs was significantly slashed.

• The Cold War ended during the administration of George H.W. Bush. In the post-Cold War era, the United States often intervened militarily in the affairs of foreign nations.

• The United States experienced a period of sustained economic growth under President Clinton. During his term in office, the federal budget was balanced for the first time since the 1960s, but the Republicans gained control of Congress for the first time in forty years.

• China and Russia began to play an increasingly important economic and political role in world affairs.

• The post-Cold War era was fraught with domestic and international terrorism. Less than a year after the inauguration of President George W. Bush, the United States experienced the worst domestic attack in the nation’s history.

• George W. Bush led the United States into the Iraq War to search for weapons of mass destruction and, with the hope of changing the dynamic in the Middle East, to liberate and democratize Iraq.

• President Bush’s domestic and foreign policies polarized the nation, allowing the Democratic Party to recapture both houses of Congress in 2006 and, with the election of Barack Obama, the White House in 2008.

• In late 2008, the United States and the world faced a dire financial crisis as the U.S. housing market and key banking and lending firms collapsed.